Laguna Seca Preview

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CHANDLER LEADS MBNA SUPERBIKE SERIES COMING INTO LAGUNA SECA WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association Superbike Series comes to Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, on Sunday, April 20, and, as usual, racing fans are expecting the unexpected. The Laguna Seca track seems to spawn unusual finishes. In 1985 privateer John Ashmead shocked the factory stars by winning there. In 1987 a dirt tracker-turned-road racer named Bubba Shobert, won his very first AMA Superbike event at Laguna. In 1995 Tom Kipp had the field covered and was well on his way to his first AMA Superbike win before a thick fog postponed the race until Monday. Kipp crashed the next day and the legendary Freddie Spencer motored away from the rest of the field to win his final race ever. Just last year in the AMA Superbike final at Laguna Seca Raceway, Honda's Miguel Duhamel held a comfortable lead with three laps left in the race. But the Honda's back end whipped violently to the side, sending Duhamel flying over the bars at 100 miles per hour. Unfortunately for the 1995 AMA Superbike Champion, his Honda caught fire, and he could only watch in despair as the bike burned. Riding past the smoky mess to victory was Doug Chandler, who used the Laguna Seca win to add to his drive to a second AMA Superbike Championship. This year Chandler is the points leader coming into round three of the 10-race AMA MBNA Superbike Series. The 31-year-old Salinas, Calif. rider is just off his best Daytona 200 finish ever, a second-place to World Superbike Yamaha rider Scott Russell -- a finish that gave him the MBNA series lead. Even though Chandler lives just down the road from Laguna, he hasn't really raced there much. In fact, in 12 years Chandler has raced a grand total of four times at his home track! His first race at Laguna was in 1985 in the defunct AMA Formula One Series, where he finished sixth. His next finish at the world-famous facility was in 1988, when he took third in the AMA Superbike final behind Bubba Shobert and Doug Polen. It was six long years before Chandler again would take a checkered flag at Laguna. In 1994 he scored a fifth-place finish in the U.S. 500cc Grand Prix. In 1995 Chandler missed the Laguna round of the AMA Superbike series while nursing injuries, before earning his first-ever win at the track last year. Another rider to watch at Laguna Seca will be former Australian Superbike Champion Mat Mladin. Riding a Ferracci Ducati, Mladin won by a huge margin in the Phoenix Superbike opener. Ferracci Ducatis have won an amazing four out of the last five AMA Superbike races at Laguna, so Mladin is certainly on the right bike to win. Another highlight of the Laguna Seca race will be the much-anticipated debut of the Vance & Hines Ducati team, with rider Thomas Stevens. Vance & Hines Racing has been one of the top AMA Superbike teams in the history of the sport, dating back to the mid-1980s when it was associated with Suzuki. Stevens has been out of Superbike racing for a few years, but he is reuniting with the team that he won the AMA Superbike title with back in 1991. Three former Laguna Superbike winners will be lining up for Sunday's final. Chandler for Kawasaki and Pascal Picotte and Doug Polen, both riding Suzukis. Still, if the past is any indication, the race will remain wide open at the Monterey track. The Laguna luck could easily shine on a totally unexpected winner. In other racing action at Laguna, Rich Oliver will try to keep his winning streak alive in the Elf 250cc Grand Prix Series. Oliver's record streak is up to 12 straight wins. He's also vying to become the first rider to win three AMA 250cc GP races at Laguna, which would see him surpass riders Eddie Lawson, John Kocinski, David Emde and Jimmy Filice, all of whom have won twice in 250cc GP competition. In the Pro Honda Oils 600cc SuperSport Series, Canadian Pascal Picotte is on a winning streak of his own. Picotte has won the first two rounds of the series on his Yoshimura Suzuki and will be looking for win number three. But he'll have to watch out for Kinko's Kawasaki rider Mike Smith, who has won this race three out of the last four years. In the Teamline 750cc SuperSport Series, Ventura, California rider Jason Pridmore leads the series, with two victories. Pridmore hopes to place his name in the Laguna record books next to his father, Reg Pridmore, who won the very first AMA Superbike race at Laguna in 1976. In the Pirelli Formula Xtreme Series, Erion Racing's Andrew Stroud remains the man to beat on his Erion Racing Honda. Stroud was a champion in the previous SuperTeams class, and he is the leader of the successor series after winning the first round in Phoenix. In the Harley-Davidson SuperTwins series, Eric Bostrom has stepped into the void left by big brother and last year's Champion Ben Bostrom, who moved on the 600cc SuperSport class this year. Eric Bostrom leads the SuperTwins Series in his campaign to uphold the Bostrom name and become half of first brother combination to win at Laguna. Past Winners LAGUNA SECA RACEWAY MONTEREY, CA SUPERBIKE Year Name, hometown Mach. 1976 Reg Pridmore, Goleta, CA BMW 1977 Steve McLaughlin, Santa Ana, CA Kawasaki 1978 Wes Cooley, Mission Viejo, CA Suzuki 1979 Freddie Spencer, Shreveport, LA Kawasaki 1980 Freddie Spencer, Shreveport, LA Honda 1981 Eddie Lawson, Ontario, CA Kawasaki 1982 Eddie Lawson, Upland, CA Kawasaki 1983 Wayne Rainey, Norwalk, CA Kawasaki 1984 Fred Merkel, Stockton, CA Honda 1985 John Ashmead, W. Palm Beach, FL Honda 1986 Wayne Rainey, Norwalk, CA Honda 1987 Bubba Shobert, Carmel Valley, CA Honda 1988 Bubba Shobert, Lubbock, TX Honda 1992 Doug Polen, Corinth, TX Ducati 1993 Doug Polen, Denton, TX Ducati 1994 Pascal Picotte, Granby, QU, CAN Ducati 1995 Freddie Spencer, Shreveport, LA Ducati 1996 Doug Chandler, Salinas, CA Kawasaki

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